Taking Flight
by Quiz King
Summary: Kuroko is a photographer who's taken over his late mother's fashion business. Still in middle school, he attends Teiko while STILL somehow keeping his low presence. That is, until he's given the job to photograph one model who also attends Teiko; Kise Ryouta. From there, life is a roller coaster and Kuroko has no idea where he'll end up!
1. Stretching Wings

**Kuroko no Basuke: KurokoxGoM** (maybe)

**Title:** Taking Flight

**Genre:** Slice of Life, Adventure, Romance

**Idea/Summary:** Kuroko is a photographer who's taken over his late mother's fashion business. Still in middle school, he attends Teiko while STILL somehow keeping his low presence.

That is, until he's given the job to photograph one model who also attends Teiko; Kise Ryouta. From there, life is a roller coaster and Kuroko has no idea where he'll end up!

**Author's Note:** Yo! I hope you all like this AU, I know I do, hehe. I also hoped I portrayed the characters alright, so please leave a review and tell me how I did! I'm excited to know everyone's opinions. (psh also i don't own Kuroko no Basuke, only the idea)

* * *

** CHAPTER ONE:**

* * *

When Kuroko awoke that morning and got ready for the day, he'd not a clue that his day would be full new friends and strangers alike; and from his own school at that.

Being a second year in Middle School, Teiko Middle School to be precise, wasn't exactly the best part of Kuroko's life. He only had a couple of friends who noticed him, and the other students were all left to look over him and even bump into him in the hallways. He never got an apology, and thus was forced to learn how to adequately dodge others.

Of course, it wasn't hard when one was as small as he was. In fact, Kuroko was pretty sure he was done growing at this point. At only the height of five feet and six inches, Kuroko Tetsuya was one of the shortest males in Teiko. Unfortunately.

But it was on this day, in the middle of September, that he had been given a very specific job, and that job was to photograph one Kise Ryouta wearing Kuroko's own line of clothing.

And that was the job that would change his life forever.

* * *

Now, at this point the reader may be wondering 'Photographs? What about basketball?'

The thing about this particular story is though, is that Kuroko is a photographer, and not, in fact, a phantom basketball player.

Not yet, anyway.

* * *

As Kuroko made his way to the studio where he was supposed to meet up with one Kise Ryouta, he passed by a basketball court. He would have loved to stop and play for a bit, but one; he was running late, and two; he didn't have his ball on him, and his clothes weren't exactly 'basketball-esque'.

He really hadn't the time for basketball anyway. It was hard to practice when one specialized in passing. Other than that, he was a busy business man! He had to meet deadlines on all of his new designs and for the photography jobs he took. Life was busy when one was the boss of a well-known fashion company.

It would be great if he'd had help, but Kuroko wasn't ready for the attention that would bring; he was quite content with running things from the shadows with his designs and photos. He was a lot like his mother in that aspect.

Which was why he was running the business in the first place. His mother had passed away a year ago, leaving him the business and everything she owned. He definitely wouldn't let all her hard work go to waste just like that.

So again, here he was, entering the doors to a large five story studio. The model he was taking pictures of was apparently his age, and quickly rising in the industries. After doing some research, Kuroko had even been surprised to find that they attended the same school! After he'd seen several pictures, he was pretty sure that Kise Ryouta was the one blond student who always had the female student body going crazy.

It was almost frightening, the way the young ladies acted; they were like wild animals.

* * *

Kuroko stood in front of the receptionist's desk for a good ten minutes before she noticed him. When she did, she almost jumped out of her seat. The sound she made was very nearly annoying as well.

When Kuroko told her what he was here for and showed her his classification, he was directed toward the elevator that would lead to the roof. It seemed that was where they would be photographing today. He'd heard rumours that the building actually had quiet a beautiful roof garden, and already ideas and poses were formulating in his mind.

They were going to be modeling his most recent fall line, which made Kuroko happy. It had been his first actual designs, and in his opinion they'd turned out quite stunning. He hoped Kise could pull them off.

The elevator dinged and Kuroko stepped out, surprised to find everything already set up and various people standing around. Looking for the blond he was supposed to be photographing, he quickly found him with the makeup artists. He was already dressed and Kuroko had to admit that from what he could see, the sweater and capri-pants looked good on him.

Approaching the model as the makeup artist was finishing up, he cleared his throat to get the blond's attention. He wasn't too sure of Kise's attitude yet, so he expected some form of arrogance.

What he got, however, was a frightened look and then a friendly smile. Kise was standing at this point, and once again Kuroko felt short.

How annoying.

"Hey! Ano, you're not allowed to be up here, shorty-kun! This is an important work site!"

Kuroko could feel the warm anger rise up in his chest at that. What a horrible way to start the day. "no, you're wrong, Kise Ryouta-kun."

He saw Kise's eyebrow twitch, and he took that as an incentive to continue. "I am your photographer for today."

What he received after that was an incredulous look. Really, it wasn't his fault he looked younger than he was...

"Whaaat?! I can't believe that!" at that, Kise turned and called over his manager, whom Kuroko had spoken with weeks before. "Matsucchi, Matsucchi! Is this really my photographer for today?! He's so tiny!"

Really, Kuroko was starting to get tired of the insults to his height. Obviously Kise was oblivious to it though, and kept doing it repeatedly. Hopefully by the end of that day Kise would stop.

Matsu Koimechi, Kise's manager, took one look towards who he was frantically gesturing to and laughed. Coming their way, he patted Kise on the head and smiled at Kuroko.

"Ah, Kuroko-san! I'm glad you could make it. We're just finishing setting up, so we can get to work as soon as you're ready!" With that, Kise's manager walked away, leaving said blond to gape and look between him and Kuroko. Internally, Kuroko was amused.

"B-But! Matsucchi!"

"You heard what I said, Kise." And then, the manager was gone, off talking to the team who was finished setting up, directing them to where they needed to stand in order to stay out of the way.

"Ano, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. Please take care of me." With a slight bow, Kuroko turned away from Kise to observe the setting for a moment. It would do nicely, and the colour in the leaves of the trees would look quite nice with the colour scheme of Kise's current outfit. Looking back to Kise, he found he was face to face with the blond, causing him to take a step away.

"So you really _are_ my photographer?" Kuroko nodded in confirmation, and was surprised when Kise clapped him on the shoulder and chuckled. "Sorry, then! I acted rude, please forgive me! As you know, I am Kise Ryouta. I hope you'll take good photos!"

"I forgive you. Now please, let us get to work."

* * *

"Look a little to the left, Kise-kun. Off into the distance."

"Hai!"

* * *

"Kise-kun, relax your shoulders, put your hands in your pockets."

"Hai!"

* * *

"...Kise-kun, smile."

"Ha- wait, what?"

* * *

"Ano... Kise-kun, please change to the next outfit."

"Hai! You're so nice, Kurokocchi!"

As Kise ran off to get into the last outfit, Kuroko mulled over his new nickname. Did it mean anything, or did Kise give it to everyone?

In the end he decided it didn't matter, as long as they finished soon. He was ready for lunch at this point, and was craving a vanilla shake. maybe he would be able to run to Maji Burger before going home...

"Kurokocchi, I'm ready!" Snapping to attention, he got his camera ready for the last shoot of the day, this time along the edge of the roof where the scenery was behind Kise.

* * *

"Itadakimasu."

"Aah, Kurokocchi is so polite!"

Kise had followed him to lunch, and was... shooting a pink flowery aura at him? Kise was weird, Kuroko decided. As he sipped at his vanilla shake in Maji Burger, he thought about the day. He'd missed the first half of class to do the photo shoot, but his teachers knew he was doing an important job; though he doubted they noticed his presence much anyway.

He would have to go to his afternoon classes and meet up with Aomine though; he had yet to receive word from him to be excused from his basketball club for the day after the next, so he could join Kuroko and Momoi on their wildlife photography excursion. It was a club activity that Kuroko wished Aomine would get permission for soon, since he was planning to bring a picnic for the three.

Looking towards the window, he sighed. "Ano, Kise-kun, why did you follow me?"

"Because I want to hang out with Kurokocchi!" Kise's eyes lit up and the aura of flowery happiness intensified. "I know! You can accompany to my club! I'm sure the others on the basketball team would love Kurokocchi!"

Kise seemed to be talking to himself more than Kuroko, but that was fine with him. What he wanted to know what Kise had in mind for the time before that. Did Kise usually skip school when he had morning photo shoots?

His question was answered when Kise dragged him up excited and they eventually found themselves at the movies. They'd taken a trip into the Maji Burger's bathroom before though, and Kise donned a strange, unrealistic disguise. It amused Kuroko to no end, to see Kise in a fake mustache and suit. It really wasn't necessary for the model to do, but if Kise was enjoying himself...

They saw an action movie. It wasn't the least bit interesting, but Kuroko enjoyed himself nonetheless. It might have been loud and hurt his ears, but Kise's reactions to the explosions amused him. Kise jumped every single time.

After that, school was most definitely over, and Kise ran off with him in tow, heading towards Teiko at a speed that made Kuroko have a hard time. he was relieved when they arrived at the gym.

Trying to catch his breath after entering the gym, Kise seemed to not be paying attention in favour of waving to his teammates. It was in that moment that Kuroko suddenly felt sore and realized he was on the ground.

Kise noticed this immediately and helped him up before calling out the giant who had knocked him over. If Kuroko recalled, his name was Murasakibara Atsushi. It was hard to forget someone as tall as him, and personally, Kuroko rather liked the shade of his hair.

"Hey! Murasakibaracchi, apologize right now! You totally just knocked Kurokocchi over!" Kise looked mildy angry at the fact that Murasakibara had kept walking instead of noticing that he's knocked into someone. He had a bag of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in his large hands, which he was casually munching on as the sweat from practice dripped down his face. It seemed Kise had missed a bit of practice because of Kuroko.

"Ah?" Murasakibara blinked and looked down at Kuroko, an uninterested look on his face. "Oops. Sorry." After that he turned back around, making his way to the bench.

"Argh!" Kise turned to Kuroko. "I'm sorry about him, Kuroko! Please forgive him!"

"Kise-kun needs to calm down. It's fine." Kise didn't look to happy about that, but he was distracted as he was called away towards someone whom Kuroko didn't recognize. Feeling a bit awkward after being left by Kise, who he could now hear apologizing profusely, he decided to sit beside the tall purple-haired middle schooler.

Murasakibara didn't acknowledge him at first, which Kuroko was completely fine with. It wasn't until he realized that Murasakibara hadn't even dried his sweaty face yet that he decided to make his presence known.

Looking around, he spotted an unused towel beside him. Kuroko picked it up and examined it for a moment before tapping Murasakibara on the arm. "Ano... you should wipe your face." Not only were there crumbs on it, but it was also grossly sweaty. Kuroko wasn't much of a fan of the look, but he figured he would help out the giant anyway.

Murasakibara, on the other hand, had different ideas. One hand was occupied by holding his bag of cookies, while the other was in the bag, guiding the treats to his mouth. When he looked at Kuroko, Kuroko saw mild annoyance.

"Oh, it's you again." He ignored the offered towel and kept eating, turning his eyes away as he did so.

While being ignored had quickly become part of Kuroko's life at a young age, he was annoyed that he had been so easily brushed off purposefully. He knew his fellow student had noticed him, and he wasn't going to let him push Kuroko's existence away like that.

So, instead of laying down and taking the treatment, he stood, towel in hand, and draped it over Murasakibara's head. Before the large student could react, Kuroko was patting away the sweat and drying his hair as well. Of course, Kuroko could clearly hear the disgruntled whines from Murasakibara, but he ignored them like Murasakibara had ignored him.

"I don't like being ignored so suddenly." Was all he said as he continued, wiping away the crumbs on Murasakibara's face as well.

Soon, he found a large hand on his head, not only ruffling his hair, but also pressing down almost painfully. "Ah, stranger-kun shouldn't touch people without permi-ssion~!" Murasakibara's voice was childish in the way that he said the last word of his sentence. Kuroko almost thought he would be squished if Kise hadn't come back.

"Murasakibaracchi! Leave Kurokocchi alone! You wouldn't want to cause Akashicchi and the team trouble, would you?"

"Ah, Kise-chin. I don't really care..." All the same, Murasakibara stopped pressing on his head, and he silently thanked Kise. He had bad enough bed head in the morning- he didn't need his now neat hair to be messied again.

"Anyway! Kurokocchi, this is my classmate Murasakibara Atsushi! He's rude."

"Kise-chin is mean..."

"And Murasakibaracchi, this is Kuroko Tetsuya, one of my photographers! Please get along~" With that, Kuroko was dragged off once again.

It became clear with that introduction that Kise Ryouta was stupid. He obviously didn't know Kuroko was also a student at Teiko, and already knew most of the basketball team's names' through Aomine.

They were stopped again by a heavy, and not to mention tanned, arm of said student. Aomine had suddenly draped his arm across Kuroko's shoulders, an intimidating look on his face as he stared heavily at Kise.

"Eh? Aominecchi! This is-"

"Tetsu, what are you doing hanging out with this idiot? If you were looking for company you should have just come play basketball with me."

"Wha-"

Kuroko interrupted Kise, deciding to humour Aomine for a moment. "I was his photographer this morning, Aomine-kun."

"Bu-"

"Fe! No wonder he's sticking to you like that." Aomine lifted his arm from Kuroko's shoulders and stood with the two, one with a deadpan face, and the other with a gaping mouth like a fish.

"Aominecchi!" Kise had tears in his eyes as he waved his hands between Kuroko and Aomine. "You know Kurokocchi!?"

"Yeah, so what? He's a student here, you know."

"Eeh?! Kurokocchi, why didn't you tell me!" Kise took the moment to try and hug Kuroko, but he side stepped closer to Aomine, an amused glint in his eyes.

"Ano, it never came up."

Kise continued to fake-sob into the floor as Kuroko turned his attention to Aomine. "Aomine-kun, have you asked permission to be excused from practice yet?"

It was hard to tell, but Aomine looked to pale slightly, a sheepish look on his face. "Aah, no. Why don't we do that now? I'll introduce you to the captain..." Kuroko agreed, knowing from Aomine's stories that the captain was something to be feared. It must of been true if even Aomine was avoiding talking to him, though Kuroko couldn't imagine what could be so scary about someone their own age.

He supposed he would soon find out...


	2. Edge of the Nest

**Kuroko no Basuke: KurokoxGoM** (maybe)

**Title:** Taking Flight

**Genre:** Slice of Life, Adventure, Romance

**Author's Note:** This chapter is a thousand words shorter than the previous, can you believe it!? Oh well, maybe the next will be longer, hehe.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO BEGIN**

* * *

Akashi Seijuuro was an interesting individual, to say the least. With his brilliant red hair and heterochromatic eyes, he made an impression even with his short stature and surprisingly open expression.

Though if one asked Kuroko Tetsuya, he would say that Akashi almost looked more like a kid than he himself did. it was probably the small upturn of the lips that made Kuroko think that. It looked like this Akashi Seijuuro character was more 'happy' than actually 'scary'.

"Akashi! I forgot to tell you that I'll be missing practice the day after tomorrow." Aomine was the one who broke the silence, making Kuroko realize that he'd been examining Akashi just as much as Akashi had been observing him.

It felt strange to be noticed just like any other person.

"Ah? And why is that?" If Kuroko knew one thing about Akashi from Aomine, is that he was very strict about practice and basketball. It seemed Akashi took their school motto very seriously. As far as Kuroko was concerned, Teiko hadn't lost in a long time.

"I have photography club activities with Satsuki and Tetsu." Kuroko felt a bit miffed that he hadn't been properly introduced yet, but he would live with it. If Akashi didn't ask for his name at some point then he probably didn't _really_ notice Kuroko. As it were, Kuroko watched the going-ons with his usual deadpan expression.

"Oh? Tetsu?"

"Mmn. Kuroko Tetsuya, this guy right here." Aomine patted Kuroko on the back, almost knocking him over in the process.

"Ano, hello, Akashi-kun." Kuroko tried to keep his greeting as normal as possible as he gave a slight bow to Akashi. They were still in the equipment room; so when he straightened out he had a lot to look at. He'd never gone into this room before, and it was quite interesting to see all sporty stuff that could fit in one room...

He didn't admit it, but he also wanted to avoid Akashi's gaze. The intense heterochromic eyes made him nervous for some reason, and he felt he finally understood why Aomine got so nervous around the redhead. Would Aomine be excused?

"...I suppose it's fine. You're training is doubled for the day after that though."

"I don't think that's necessary. We'll be hiking through a forest. It would be enough work out for Aomine-kun." Kuroko had spoken up before Aomine could protest. He didn't want his closest friend to suffer because they decided to take a club trip into the woods.

They would be going to a park on the outskirts of town; one that was filled with trees and rocks and the like. He'd already advised Momoi to dress appropriately, and Aomine knew that they'd planned to use him for some of the photos, which required him to go deeper into the bush or up trees. In Kuroko's opinion, that would be enough.

"Oh?" What was with Akashi and one syllable answers? It was effective, but still... people usually had more to say.

One of his eyebrows was also raised, and Kuroko shifted, looking off to the side for a moment before returning his gaze to Akashi. "Aomine-kun will be climbing trees to get better photos of the scenery. We're also making him carry the heavy equipment."

"What?! Tetsu!" This, of course, was the first time Aomine had heard of this news. It only made sense though, since Aomine was the most muscular and athletic, and probably had the most stamina as well.

Kuroko, however, couldn't stop his lips from turning upwards just slightly. Surprising Aomine had been one of his hobbies since entering middle school, so to see him so surprised without him having to appear out of no where was a small treat. Hopefully their trip would have many of these moments so he could catch and preserve it in the memory of his camera, and later his laptop.

Akashi, meanwhile, seemed to be thinking of something. He hadn't said anything yet to Kuroko's plans. However, when he did cross his arms and open his mouth to speak Kuroko listened closely.

"It's decided!" Akashi had another strangely open smile on his face. Kuroko would have suspected he was happy if it hadn't been for Aomine's stories about that very same smile. "Us regulars will accompany you on this photography trip and train!"

Aomine made a noise of discontent at that. He knew his training would be intense that day, and he would most likely have do do more than usual to keep up with both the photography club and the basketball team.

"Ah..." Kuroko blinked. He was kind of surprised at the declaration. "It means I will have to make more food..." sighing, Kuroko decided that he would definitely have another milkshake after he was able to go home. It had been a tiring day so far, and he still had to sort through the photos of Kise and pick which ones he wanted to use for the Phantom Shadow Magazine; and even after that he had to contact the magazine itself, and confirm the catalog, and even pick up his mail...

There was just a lot to do that day. Kuroko probably should've excused himself a long time ago.

Very suddenly, Kise appeared once more, and would've knocked over Kuroko if it hadn't been for Aomine pulling him out of the way. "Kurokocchi is going to cook for us?!"

Kuroko sighed, very tempted to pull off a move generally known as a 'face palm'. "Hai, Kise-kun."

He could see the flowers blooming around Kise's head already. "I wonder if Kurokocchi's cooking is good~" and then, Kise was gone; not physically, but mentally.

"Ano, may I be excused? I still have many things to do today." He directed the question towards Akashi since he was the team captain. It would've been rude not to.

"Yeah, take care for now. We will see you for this excursion at the front gate before the first bell the day after tomorrow." Kuroko nodded and waved at Aomine; he avoided Kise as he went, and he didn't bother looking for Murasakibara. As far as Kuroko was concerned, they were not friends, and therefore did not require greetings and goodbyes.

On his way home he stopped at Maji Burger, as planned. From there he'd gotten on a bus and went to his mother's private studio she had. It wasn't far from his house, but he wouldn't've had time to do what he wanted to if he'd walked.

Arriving at the private studio, he immediately began his work by opening the laptop he had on the desk. He liked to keep his private life and work life separate, so the result was him using the studio and having an extra laptop. He enjoyed his work, but not enough to integrate it into his home too much. He did have a few issues of his mother's magazine lying around his living room though...

The first thing he did was check his work email. Sometimes the managers of models would contact him and wonder if he were free, and often times that was how he ended up with so much extra money. In the modelling world, you could say he was quite popular as a photographer.

He had none, which was surprising; so he moved on. Sorting the bad photos from the good photos of Kise didn't take more than twenty minutes.

He would have to compose a formal email to send to the magazine editor next... he always disliked that part, no matter how good he was at writing formal emails and letters. It was just really boring, in his opinion.

He decided he would do it tomorrow. The deadline wasn't for another week anyway, and he should probably have taken the time to edit the photos he chose. Maybe make them brighter, or give them a bit more contrast in some areas...

His cellphone beeped, signalling that half an hour had passed. He still had plenty of time to do things, so he decided to go home and do any left over homework. Kuroko remembered leaving his math half finished the evening before.

As he locked up his studio and stood in the street for a moment, he felt a cool breeze pass by him. It would be a chilly night, it felt like.

* * *

That night, Kuroko dreamt of nothingness. In the dream, it was him and the blackness, and he felt as if he were fading. It was something of a nightmare, one might say.

He was awoken by the sensation of falling.

* * *

His time at school wasn't much better. Kuroko was having a bad day, that was for sure. Everywhere he turned something bad happened to him. He tripped in the hall, bumped into some intense rebellious-looking second year, and couldn't get his hair to calm down until noon!

He hoped his day would become better later. Not only was his bad luck annoying, but it was also embarrassing.

It wasn't until he bumped into a green-haired individual that his day finally started looking up, if only just a little. It was during lunch when quite suddenly Kuroko almost tripped down the school stairs. He had thankfully been caught by the formerly mentioned teen, and he'd even been scoffed at! He was kind of surprised at first.

"You must be an Aquarius. Oha Asa predicted the worst luck for you..." And then, much to Kuroko's surprise, a stopwatch had been shoved into his hands before the green haired boy stiffly walked away.

Kuroko couldn't hep but blink after him. It was weird to be so suddenly noticed like that. It almost made him suspicious, and as he carefully inspected the stopwatch, he found a name engraved onto the silver plate which hid the battery.

_'Midorima Shintarou, class 1 - A'_

Still, from that moment on his bad luck had decreased and he found himself searching for this 'Midorima' boy. At the end of the day, he found himself standing outside of class 1 - A.

* * *

As predicted, no one noticed him. Kuroko ended up standing outside the door until everyone was filing out. He managed to find the green haired boy again and silently walked beside him until he felt it was appropriate to speak.

"Ano? Are you Midorima-kun?"

He felt some inner satisfaction when he saw the taller teen jump and turn to face him.

"Oh, it's just you. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to give this back." Kuroko held out the watch that he had been given, and unexpectedly received a scowl.

"No, you can keep it. Return it to me tomorrow." And with that, Midorima sped off as if he had somewhere important to be, leaving Kuroko in the hall to ponder what had been going through the other's head.

He suppose he would just have to return it in the morning before he left with the others.


End file.
